Novel Technologies in the Freezing Process and Their Impact on the Quality of Fruits and Vegetables.

Abstract

Fruits and vegetables (F&V) are living tissues that continue to respire after picking, and while this can be controlled by freezing, for the conservation of its components, maintaining its sensory quality. This review aims (i) to review the use of novel combined technologies used in the F&V freezing process, (ii) to evaluate its unconventional variants to obtain high-quality frozen products, including different aspects that influence this thermal process. The basic principles and uses of new technologies (i.e., ultrasound, magnetic fields, high pressure, microwaves, osmotic dehydration, isochoric freezing and cryogenic freezing and unconventional processes) are described. Moreover, was evaluated the impact of each technology on the control of the formation and growth of ice crystals, and its impact on the microstructure and quality characteristics of F&V, as well as their proposed mathematical models. It is concluded that new technologies combined with freezing have a positive and promising effect on process optimization, since their application can minimize the negative effects of traditional freezing methods. Graphical Abstract.